Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/01/this-water-filter-is-going-in.html
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I remember a boy scout Sierra backpacking trip and iodine purification tablets galore.
I would wager a bet it was chlorine, not iodine.
And while I don’t really like the stuff, it belongs in any kit. Seriously: never go without it as a backup. Combination of chlorine and silver ions. Weighing nearly nothing, saving my life more than once. (Caught typhoid fever nevertheless. Don’t forget that your food may not be sterile, FFS.)
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Also good when traveling to places where you don’t want to chance the local water.
Keep in mind that many viruses are smaller than .1 micron.
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My daughter has a weird craving for iodine water purifying tablets and will occasionally just mix one in to her nalgene of tap water when not camping. Why do you think it was chlorine instead of iodine? We’ve always used iodine, and I started camping in the 70s.
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I use one of these for backpacking. It’s great! But I seldom use the squeeze pouch. I prefer using a one liter plastic bottle (the threads are the same). It’s easier to squeeze, and practically indestructible.
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“Bug out bag”? SERIOUSLY?
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Could she be iodine deficient? Is it known to be common where you live? Does she have any other pica behaviour for chalk, iron or salt? Or do they just love the taste and reminder of fun camping times?
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Just wanted to say that what you say about this company is what you say about society.
Today’s Sawyer filter gets a buy from you.
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Iodine is involved in the human endocrine system; it is not unlikely to either have an allergic reaction or your levels of thyroid hormones changed. Also, it interacts with some forms of medication because of it’s metabolisation. Without looking at Google Scholar for papers on that, I suspect overdosing is likely to be an issue. Also, using it usually is most effective in a solution, which however is light sensitive, usually contains alcohol (and thus is prone to quick evaporation) and is annoyingly able to stain everything it gets into contact with. Tablets are possible, but I don’t know how easy soluble they are. Same problem with staining, I would guess.
There are a lot of drawbacks, thus I didn’t think iodine would be much used. Seems I was mistaken - a quick websearch shows that, apparently, it is used in the US regularly. I’m a big confused why, exactly.
I have my bug out bag, and inside it is another smaller bug out bug out bag, for if I get tired of the first bugging out, I can bug out a little further away.
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Using iodine tablets for water purification does have added benefits if you’re in an area with a lot of radioactive iodine in the environment.
The Sawyer is great but if you have a lot of people you’ll want the Platypus: https://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/shop/product_Platypus-GravityWorks-2-0L-Filter-System_10238361_10208_10000001_-1_ It has a similar filter but all you have to do is fill the Dirty bag and hang it up, and you can continue to fill it until you get as much water as you want. You don’t even need to use the “Clean” reservoir, you can fill water bottles or pots directly.
It’s fun to use your imagination!
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Seriously though, just get a bunch of LifeStraws.
interested people are curious - what else is in the “something happened in CA - we need to be self sufficient for a few days” bag
Same working principle as firearms policy.
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It has the Quack Miranda Warning, so it must be good!
*THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT DISEASE.
That’s true. And since I organised a tour for native American NGO representatives living in an uranium mining area, to ensure support in Europe, and to support our case against nuclear energy, I won’t dismiss this benefit.
Not the most widespread need, but FFS, sadly very real.
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